Ruling Passions

A Theory of Practical Reasoning

Simon Blackburn

The long-awaited paperback edition of a theory of ethics from a leading contemporary philosopher

Blackburn is the author of the best-selling Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy

He has become one of the foremost exponents of philosophy to the general public

More humane and positive than most contemporary philosophy

Written in his characteristic witty, trenchant style

Draw on game theory and cognitive science to illuminate ethics

Ruling Passions

A Theory of Practical Reasoning

Simon Blackburn

Description

Simon Blackburn puts forward a compelling and original philosophy of human motivation and morality. Why do we behave as we do? Can we improve? Is our ethics at war with our passions, or is it an upshot of those passions? Blackburn seeks the answers to such questions in an exploration of the nature of moral emotions and the structures of human motivation. He develops a naturalistic ethics, which integrates our understanding of ethics with the rest of our understanding of the world we live in. His theory does not debunk the ethical by reducing it to the non-ethical, and it banishes the spectres of scepticism and relativism that have haunted recent moral philosophy. Ruling Passions reveals how ethics can maintain its authority even though it is rooted in the very
emotions and motivations that it exists to control.

Ruling Passions

A Theory of Practical Reasoning

Simon Blackburn

Table of Contents

Introduction1. Organizing Practice: The Elements of Ethics2. Things That Concern Us3. The Ethical Proposition: What It Is Not4. Naturalizing Norms5. Looking Out For Yourself6. Game Theory and Rational Actors7. The Good, the Right, and the Common Point of View8. Self-Control, Reason, and Freedom9. Relativism, Subjectivism, KnowledgeAppendixBibliographyIndex

Ruling Passions

A Theory of Practical Reasoning

Simon Blackburn

Author Information

Simon Blackburn is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. Previously he was the Edna J. Koury Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Adjunct Professor at the Australian National University's Research School of Social Sciences. From 1969 to 1990 he was Fellow and Tutor of Philosophy at Pembroke College, Oxford.

Ruling Passions

A Theory of Practical Reasoning

Simon Blackburn

Reviews and Awards

"Blackburn's stimulating...book makes a lively contribution. People interested in the issues it addresses will read it with profit."--Times Literary Supplement